DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine on Friday, a month after Zelenskyy criticized Modi for hugging Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to that country.
Modi’s visit to Russia took place on the day that Russian missiles killed dozens of Ukrainians and damaged a children’s hospital.
Zelenskyy described the meeting as a “devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day.”
Modi’s government has avoided speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, maintaining the historically positive relationship between the two countries.
He instead has advocated for both sides to resolve its conflict through dialogue.
Zelenskyy said Monday that “a number of documents are also expected to be signed” during Modi’s first ever visit to Ukraine.
Earlier this year, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was interested in expanding its relations with India, working toward developing its agricultural exports, pharmaceutical trades and industrial trades, to name a few.
Russia became a major oil supplier to India after Western sanctions were imposed on Russia for its 2020 invasion of Ukraine.
The reduced-priced oil has saved India billions of dollars while helping Russia’s war economy stay afloat.
India has also seen the deaths of at least five of its citizens who signed up for “support jobs” in Russia and were sent to the front lines of the war in Ukraine.
India has pushed Moscow to return the citizens who signed up for these support jobs.
India has opted out of adhering to United Nations sanctions on Russia.
VOA
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